The present invention relates to an inlet and/or outlet manifold arrangement for use with a conduit system, preferably one made of an elastic material, of a solar radiation collector.
There exist arrangements by means of which heat produced as the result of solar radiation is used to elevate the temperature of a body of water, as, for example, a swimming pool. The conduit system is made, for example, in the fashion of an air mattress, in that it is made of plastic sheets which are welded together along spaced-apart lines so as to form internal, meander-shaped paths through which water or other heat-carrying, liquid medium may flow between a liquid inlet and a liquid outlet. Alternatively, the solar radiation collector may be constituted by hoses or hose sections which provide as long a path as possible, so as to obtain optimum solar heat absorption while occupying a minimum of space. These hoses or hose sections may have blackened interior walls and be combined with each other so as to form a mat-like arrangement.
Arrangements of the above type, which may, of course, be used for various other purposes, such as for providing a hot water supply for a heating system, have to be constructed so as to meet certain requirements relating to flow characteristics, that is to say, the arrangement must be such that there will be adequate pressure to ensure proper liquid flow, although it will be appreciated that the available pressure is necessarily subject to certain limits.
It is, therefore, the primary object of the present invention to provide an arrangement of the above type which fulfills these requirements, namely, an arrangment in which due consideration is given to the flow characteristics, such that there will be sufficient pressure to maintain adequate liquid flow while avoiding loss of liquid from the system.
It is another object of the present invention to provide an arrangement of the above type which is structurally simple and which can be easily maintained.